Morocco slams new Charlie Hebdo cartoons of prophet

Agence France Presse

RABAT, Morocco - Morocco on Thursday condemned the publication of new cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed by the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and said it will ban foreign newspapers that carry them.

"We condemn terrorist attacks but also any offence against the Muslim religion, its symbols and its prophet," Communication Minister Mustapha Khalil told reporters.

Morocco, he said, had decided impose a ban on "foreign publications that reproduce the new cartoons" of the prophet.

He did not identify those publications, but French dailies such as Le Monde and Liberation, which reproduced the latest Charlie Hebdo cartoons, were nowhere to be found at newspaper stands.

In its first edition since Islamist gunmen attacked the Paris office of Charlie Hebdo killing 12 people, the weekly newspaper on Wednesday once again featured the Prophet Mohammed on its front page, drawing condemnation from several Muslim countries.